


A Moment of Peace

by River_of_Dawn



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: America Being an Idiot (Hetalia), Awesome Prussia (Hetalia), BAMF Prussia (Hetalia), Brotherly Affection, Brothers Germany & Prussia (Hetalia), Character Study, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Germany-Centric (Hetalia), Historical References, Protective Older Brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26697367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/River_of_Dawn/pseuds/River_of_Dawn
Summary: When he had been younger, back before Bismarck had officially united Germany, he had often sneaked out of meetings, leaving Prussia to handle all the political stuff. He longed to get back to those simpler times, when he had not been the one responsible to keep the peace, instead being able of trusting his brother to keep him safe, as it was the Prussian king who was the German Kaiser and it had been Prussia who led the Germans to unity.---Or, in which Prussia is a Good Big Brother™
Relationships: Germany & Prussia (Hetalia)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30





	A Moment of Peace

**Author's Note:**

> So... I'm back in the Hetalia fandom, even if it is fairly inactive. Oh well... Can't escape it, can you?
> 
> This is something I wrote late at night in one go on my phone, so I'm not sure how good it is. I'm fairly sure that it's accurate with the historical aspect, so that's good. 
> 
> The characters might seem a bit OOC but I wanted to explore their characters a bit. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!
> 
>  **Disclaimer:** I own nothing.
> 
>  **Warnings:**... Mention of warfare, I guess? Nothing graphic. Please write a comment if you notice something!

Germany frowned at the collected nations in front of him.

France and England were bickering (did England have a blue eye already?). America and Russia were bickering. The Italian brothers were bickering. Greece and Turkey were bickering. He didn't even want to know what was going on with the Nordic Five, as Denmark liked to call the Scandinavian group, never mind the never-ending conflicts within the African countries, which consisted not only out of countries, but also of ethnic groups, which made those politics just horrible to navigate. And then there were the Asian countries all arguing about something China had (or hadn't) done. Germany did not try to keep up with them, it always got exhausting. At least the South American group seemed content to just watch the chaos unfold, only sometimes shooting insults at each other, and some Latino countries even managed to take a nap. He had yet to see Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Seemingly the only person who was calm, was (for some reason) his brother, who was talking with another country Germany could not recognize. Germany frowned and looked at the attendance sheet in front of him, which was coincidentally the only thing they had managed to achieve during the last two hours, and after five minutes managed to narrow the country down to Canada. Hmm... A fierce fighter when challenged, so that might be why his brother was talking with him.

Already he could feel the tension in his head build up.

It had only been two hours. Only two hours.

Two hours.

In those two hours -- not counting the time it took to get to the meeting location (five hours with the plane and an overall travel time of six-and-three-quarter hours), the wait for the meeting to start (thirty-five minutes, not counting the fifteen minutes he had been early) as well as the productive time lost to jet lag (an estimated one hour at the least) -- he could have filed some of the paperwork regarding the new laws and policies for refugees and asylum applications, which would take up the early hours of his night, the way the meeting was going.

Germany grabbed the pot of tea in front of him -- it was more healthy than coffee, cola or similar drinks whilst still containing the much-needed coffein -- only to notice that it was empty.

He cast a furtive look at the door of the meeting room.

When he had been younger, back before Bismarck had officially united Germany, he had often sneaked out of meetings, leaving Prussia to handle all the political stuff. He longed to get back to those simpler times, when he had not been the one responsible to keep the peace, instead being able of trusting his brother to keep him safe, as it was the Prussian king who was the German Kaiser and it had been Prussia who had led the Germans to unity.

And then the first World War had arrived and with it the binding feeling of political alliances, such as the alliance between the Deutschem Kaiserreich and Austria.

It had been Germany's first war. He had been so young back then, the youngest involved in that gruesome war.

Of course, Prussia had tried to do his best to stay near Germany, to protect him as much as he could, but they had fought on all sides. A war he had wanted nothing to do with and yet was forcibly dragged into, Germany had stood on his own against the Serbian forces only a few weeks after joining. Prussia had gone to fight against the French.

And in the beginning the war had been scary. But at the same time it had been exhilarating. Germany had been forged out of war. Out of war against Denmark, Austria and France. To fight after training under Prussia for such a long time, to finally prove his worth as a country... Yes, it had been exhilarating.

But after a few months the pain from losing his citizens started to hurt. And after a few years he could only feel the sheer hunger of his people. Hunger for peace, hunger for enough food, hunger for change.

And what a change it was! Sailors rebelled against the officers, ruling first Kiel, then everywhere. They formed their own governments locally with the help of the army until the Kaiser was forced into exile and Germany had lost the war officially. Unofficially he had already lost before the sailors rebelled, so he was grateful that they had done that step.

But with the end of the war came the end of Germany's life as he knew it.

Not only had a found a nuisance in Italy and met the other nations, no, he had established himself as a major player on the world's stage and lost. He had lost the war. He had lost his citizens. He had lost his lands. He had lost his economy and economic power for years to come. He had lost his military. He had only gained payments of the likes which had never been seen before.

And even as he sat in the meeting room, watching England and France at each other's throats as they were so often, he still had payments left. Not many, no, but they were still left. And the payments from what came after were still to come.

Sure, he had finally managed to establish himself as a major player in current times, but even with one of the largest economies, even with his work being regarded as the best available all over the world, he still had payments to make and tributes to pay to the past.

But at least he was paying tributes. And he knew that other countries thought that he was still young and naïve and that one day he would realise that in the real world one might pay tribute, but such things would happen again. That one could not prevent those things, so one might as well ignore them.

It disgusted Germany to see other countries ignore their bloody past.

For him, there would always be the scars of the bombings, of the Berlin Wall, of the Holocaust.

And because of those scars, he and his citizens and his government, had somehow decided that he would need to try to help keep the peace. To prevent such things from ever happening again.

Looking out at the meeting, he doubted his resolve.

He was one of the youngest countries around. Why was he expected to have the weight of the world on his shoulders?

Once again, he eyed the door longingly.

Nobody would notice. Nobody would care. Except himself and the Chancellor, _Bundeskanzlerin_ Merkel. Damn his own discipline. Normally he would pride himself on his rules, but not that day.

Again, for what must have been the third time during the last five minutes, Germany shuffled his papers around, sorting them.

A hand clasped his shoulder and Germany straightened his spine instinctively, one hand going towards where he kept a pocket knife safely conceiled.

"Hey, West," his brother's voice whispered into his ear and only the discipline trained into him years ago kept his form from collapsing in relief. Even if his brother might not seem like it from the outside, he was the most caring person Germany knew. That might have been because it was his _brother_ , but he was the closest thing to comfort in the room.

"Yes?"

He kept his voice low as well, on the one hand because of his headache, on the other because Gilbert obviously wanted to keep their conversation quiet.

"How about you go take a break, Ludwig, and I'll take care of this, okay?" The concern in his brother's voice was obvious and Germany nodded thankfully, scraping his chair back and getting up.

Nobody even noticed the movement -- too enraptured by England's and France's all out brawl in the middle of the room.

" _Danke, Bruder_."

"Of course." Prussia ruffled his hair with a grin and Germany had to hide his endearment of the gesture from his past behind a scowl over his ruined hair. Of course Prussia saw right through it.

"Okay, you go ahead, kiddo, and I'll show them why one should still fear the awesome Prussian spirit!" He laughed.

Germany gave him a small smile, conveying his thanks, and slowly started his way through a bunch of African countries towards the door.

"Shut up, losers, I'm talking now!" Prussia shouted as he left the room.

And as the noise behind him quietened, Germany could feel himself relax piece by piece.

He finally slumped against a door, not even having the energy to continue on to his room, as he listened to Prussia chastise all of the other nations.

Prussia could relieve him of that duty more often, Germany contemplated, it certainly made things easier and would also help with the awkward feeling that always came over him when ordering countries around that were hundreds if not thousands of years older.

"Hey, dude, you okay?"

Germany turned his head and raised his eyebrow at the question, torn between asking sarcastically if it looked like he was okay or whether to just shrug.

America didn't quite seem to care either way, just sitting down next to him quietly in a way that he rarely did.

For a moment Germany wondered why Prussia would let America of all the countries leave the meeting, before remembering that Prussia had once trained the energetic country. And that training wasn't something one would just forget, so he could be reasonably sure that America would be on his best behavior until the meeting ended.

"Sorry for all the chaos back there. I'm the hero, I shouldn't cause chaos, I should fight it."

Now, Germany found himself staring at the other country.

"It's fine, I guess," he answered eventually. "You shouldn't be the only one to fight chaos, you know?"

"And you shouldn't be the only one fighting chaos at the meetings." America laughed, but it lacked its usual boom, sounding more sincere than any other Germany had heard from America so far. "Hell, when I was your age I was still wandering around at England's side, not even my own country yet and you've already fought how many wars?"

Germany opened his mouth to answer, but as America held up a gloved hand, he shut it. Habits that stick with you.

"Don't answer, that was rhetorical." America sighed and pulled his knees towards him, pillowing his arms on them before turning back towards Germany. "I'm sorry, okay. I am behaving like a child whilst leaving you -- the younger country -- with all the work."

Germany bristled. "I'm not a child."

"Oh my god, I'm bad at this. No, you're not a child, of course not! You've been one of the main political players for over a century now, how could you be a child? It's just that I'm constantly behaving like a child, even though I should have grown up before you had to. And I'm not saying that I hadn't been forced to grow up fast as well, but it's just... I was always under England's care for the first big atrocities in my country. And that dampened the blow until I could deal with it. You didn't have that."

"I appreciate the sentiment, America, but I don't need your pity." Germany pushed himself against the door and up.

Before he left, he turned back towards where America was still crouching on the floor. " _Guten Tag noch._ I'll see you tomorrow at the meeting."

"Okay, dude. See ya." The American paused. "Just... I'll try to do better from now on, okay?"

Germany turned away from the other nation.

Sure, he might have been forced to grow up fast, but that did not make him a child. He was as strong a nation as all the others. And even if he could not be strong, he knew Prussia would support him.

He slipped back into the meeting room, surprised, but at the same time not surprised at all, to find it fairly calm. After all, he had learned how to calm a room from Prussia.

But even so it seemed like a miracle to stand inside a room full of nations and to have a moment of peace.

"I'll let you get back to it, West," Prussia told him with a self-satisfied smirk and settled back down next to... Who was that again? Cambodia? No... Canada? 

England finished his report regarding the fact that his citizens and government were against taking in refugees and that they would exit the European Union if necessary.

Germany could feel another headache building up at the paperwork that was sure to arrive within the next few months if England were to actually go ahead with that.

Well, it had been nice to have a short reprieve, he mused, as he watched America slip back into the room, this time unusually quiet. But, who knew, maybe this could last for once.

**Author's Note:**

> Some notes:
> 
> \- I gave the African group not only countries but also ethnical groups, because those countries were made by colonial powers and I don't think they represent Africa all that well.
> 
> \- Germany counting the time. That's something I do as well. No idea of it's because of my mental health problems or because I'm German. It fit him either way.
> 
> \- Refugees and Asylum applications as well as mentions of the Brexit. Yes, this is set in the past because I really didn't want to go into present politics. You can lose yourself in those easily.
> 
> \- Deutsches Kaiserreich is the German Reich after it's unification by Otto von Bismarck. Great mind, that one.
> 
> \- Germany wanting nothing to do with WWI. That's not quite true. This is more supposed to reflect the fact that he was/is a fairly young country.
> 
> \- Germany being forged out of war. Or rather out of blood and steel. Bismarck fought with Prussian troops against the three mentioned countries in order to unify the German countries. Really, you should look it up if you haven't so far.
> 
> \- Sailors rebelling in Kiel. _Kieler Matrosenaufstand_. The higher ups wanted to send the marine on a suicide mission to save the German honor at the end of WWI. The sailors rebelled and started the revolution that would lead to the Weimar Republic.
> 
> \- Germany's losses after WWI. This refers to the Treaty of Versailles. Germany finally managed to pay off the last payments a few years ago, but at that time it would give Germany such a hit it allowed for resentment to brew and eventually the Nazis to rise to power.
> 
> \- Other countries ignoring their past. Germany is one of few countries that portrays mostly negative history in school and real life. This leads to the fact that many feel responsible to prevent such things from ever happening again.
> 
> \- Prussia training America. To annoy England Prussian troops, alongside French and Spanish, helped train the American troops to help them gain independence.
> 
> \- America and Germany interaction. America has a lot of folks with a German background and helped rebuild Germany after WWII. Those two have history, they should talk.
> 
> \- America as the hero. Many see the US as the hero, none more so than many Americans. But especially in recent times that hasn't worked out well and often leaves other frustrated or in states or war/conflict afterwards.
> 
> \- Germany getting annoyed at being compared to a child. Whilst Germany is one of the largest economic powers, it is still a fairly young country to others. Still, the German people have existed for a long time and many proud themselves on famous Germans of the past -- even if they hadn't been Germans at that point since Germany didn't exist yet. I can see Germany adopting a similar mindset of feeling like all of that is his history, making him older than America (as in the country), even if it was originally the history of Germanic states/the Holy Roman Empire.
> 
> This was mainly for me to give Prussia a bit of appreciation because he is usually seen as a fairly incompetent character, when he is actually very competent, serious and organized -- where did you guess Germany got all of his skills.
> 
> I tried to show all of this through Germany, because they are awesome brothers.
> 
> Is it OOC? Maybe. But I think it worked out well.
> 
> Maybe I'll write more for Hetalia. Maybe I'll finish my other projects. Who knows, but I was glad I got to write this. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and I appreciate any form of feedback!


End file.
